|| 𝕤𝕞𝕙 ||

Sixteen.

America...?

He wants me to go to America with him?

He's delusional...

FLASHBACK (CHAPTER ONE)

It's been four years now... Four damn years since I hadn't stepped a foot out of Korea. I know none of what had happened was exactly my fault and I'm not to blame, even though everyone else thinks otherwise... I honestly don't even care about what they have to say anymore, but... I just don't want to see his face again... ever again.

END OF FLASHBACK

"Have you lost your mind? I'm not going and you know damn well I won't." I declared.
"Please..." Mateo said in the lowest possible tone in complete desperation.

Just the remembrance of my many memories told me not to do it, but a part of me made it feel wrong, wrong to just sit back and not do anything.

Even though deep down I finally felt relieved that someone had assured me it wasn't my fault, it was still a difficult decision.

Would I even be able to sleep in peace if I didn't go?

I know he was hopeless, I know he came all the way here because he didn't have another option but...

"Look, in two weeks time we will have the perfect opportunity, he won't even find out you entered the country. Think about it, it'll only take up to seventy two hours max, of which the majority is on a plane." He explained to me frantically.

It wasn't an easy judgement to make for me, when I left, I left for good.

We sat in silence for one minute or two while I thought about it.

It wasn't right to sit back and do nothing when I knew everything now, and Mateo was right, he did kill my mother, and he should be punished.

"Hey Mateo..." I called out to him, breaking the disturbing silence.
"Yes?" He replied instantly.
"I thought about it, and I personally don't think it's a good idea for me to go to America, but if you have a solid plan that works with me, I'm willing to help you." I explained after some serious thought to it.
"Really?" He asked as a smile arose on his face.

I nodded my head in response and stood up,
"It's been a chaotic day, I'm going to rest. Let's discuss this later, please, okay?" I suggested.
"Hey Ivory..." Mateo called out to me as I turned around to face him once again.
"Hmm?" I hummed in response.

He paused.

"Yes Mateo?" I asked again in a more serious tone.
"Well... I don't actually have anywhere to stay..." He explained, looking away.
"Why would you come all the way from-, never mind." I sighed in annoyance now glaring at him.

I headed toward the hallway,
"Here, follow me." I said in a drained tone slouching my shoulders.

As he proceeded to do so I showed him the guest bedroom.

"I'm leaving tomorrow evening, it'll only be one night." He said in an apologetic tone.
"It's alright, just go to sleep already, please..." I said, deeply underlining the 'please'.

I was so exhausted, I threw myself straight onto my bed.

But, like always, I wasn't able to sleep straight away, my unnecessary thoughts had already flooded my mind.

I thought about every possible scenario that could happen if I went all night long.

What would happen if my father did find out I was in the country?

I moved across the world to run away from him, I can't even imagine what he would do if he found me somewhere within his reach.

He tried absolutely everything he could to make sure I'd come back to America, but my brother had that under control as he expected something like this to happen.

Because my head was occupied all night with an endless cycle of thoughts and worries, I ended up falling asleep after the sun had risen.

I woke up much later than I had expected.

It wasn't exactly very relaxing either, my shoulders were all tense from a dream I couldn't even remember.

"Fuck, it's already three?" I said quietly to myself as I checked the time.

I washed my face and walked over to the kitchen for a drink of water and to snack on some food only to find a note up on the fridge being held up by a magnet.

To Ivory,
You were sleeping so I just left quietly, there's food on the table that I couldn't finish, if you wanna eat it go ahead. Also don't forget, you have 2 weeks to prepare yourself (mentally I guess). I left my number at the backside of this paper, call or text me when you can,
Mateo.

"He thinks I'm going to eat his leftovers? Hah." I mumbled to myself, chuckling at the audacity.

I grabbed the paper and flipped it around, adding the number on the back to my contacts.

I'll call him later, he's probably still on the plane. 

Instead, I called Tj,
"Hey, are you free?" I asked when she finally picked up.
"Yeah, need something?" Tj answered.
"Nah, I was just gonna ask if you wanna work out together, I'm heading out to the gym." I explained.
"Yeah sure, I haven't worked out in ages, come pick me up." She declared.
"Ok, be ready, I'll be there in thirty minutes." I responded.
"Ok see you then." She replied.
"Byee." I said as I hung up.

And just like that, I got ready, grabbed my gym bag and something to eat on the way since I had basically just woken up and I left to go over to Tj place.

It had been a while since me and Tj went to work out together.

We used to go together before she had moved away, after that, I never really continued to exercise.

It felt odd to me to wake up all of a sudden and feel the motivation to work out.

Soon I was at Tj's house,
"Hey, I thought you didn't have a car." She stated as she walked out the front door, locking it behind her.
"It's not mine anyway." I explained.
"Then who's is it?" Tj asked as she entered the passenger seat, throwing her things to the side.
"Casey's." I answered.
"How come you have it though?" She questioned further.
"A few days ago he went on a business trip, he said I'll leave you my car until I come back. I don't know man, he's so random." I told Tj in a questioning tone.

She giggled at me then we continued to talk about general things.

It wasn't long till we arrived at a nearby gym.

Soon me and Tj started going to the gym together more often.

However, it wasn't long before two  weeks had passed...

"Hey, Mateo, I'm at the airport right now." I told him.